Loose-leaf ledger.



No. 684,6I4. Patented Oct. I5, I90l. W. P. NDRTHCTT.

LOGSE LEAF LEDGER.

(Application filed Aug. 2, 1901.)

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`UNITED STnTns PATENT Ormea.

WILLIAM P. NORTHOOTT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LOOSE-LEAF LEDGER.

SEEGFGs/LTQN part of Letters Patent No. 684,614, dated October 15, 1901. Application filed August 2, 1901. Serial No. 70,628. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NVILLIAM P. NORTH- GOTT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cool; and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Loose-Leaf Ledgcrs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of looseleaf ledgers in which there is a plurality of loose leaves or sheets bound and arranged in such manner that one or more of them may be removed or reinserted whenever necessity requires or occasion demands.

The invention relates particularly to the construction of a loose leaf or sheet of varying flexibility, one portion of which (that near the binding edge) is more flexible than the rest, so as to permit of the sheet being used many times and of the book being held more readily and operated upon in an open position, all of which will more fully hereinafter appear.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a loose leaf for ledgers of varying flexibility, and thus insure the longevity and efficient use of the same.

A further object is to provide a simple, economical, and efficient loose leaf with a series of alternating cuts or depressions arranged on both sides of the sheet near the binding edge to provide for the greatest flexibility at that point.

Further objects will appear from an eX- amination of the drawings and the following description and claims.

The invention consists principally in a loose leaf or ledger-sheet provided with a series of cuts or depressions arranged near the binding edge and in alternate spaces on each side of the sheet.

It consists, further, in a loose ledger-sheet provided with a series of cuts, grooves, or depressions arranged parallel with the binding edge of the sheet and in alternate spaces on each side thereof.

It consists, further, in a loose ledger-sheet provided with a series of discontinuous cuts, grooves, or depressions arranged parallel with the binding edge of the sheet and in alternate spaces on each side; and it consists, finally, in the features and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.'

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a broken plan View of a loose ledger leaf or sheet constructed in accordance with these improvements; Fig. 2, an enlarged crosssectional view taken on line 2 of Fig. l, and Fig. 3 an enlarged broken View of a portion of the binding edge of the sheet constructed in accordance with these improvements.

In the art to which this invention relates it is well known that in loose ledgers the binding-boards between which the leaves are held in position for use are intended to be used continuously for a long period of time or until they are worn out and that the loose sheets are inserted and removed as occasion requires. Owing to this fact, therefore, it will be seen that some sheets in the binding will be old and fiexible and some new and relatively inflexible, or, in other Words, have a lesser degree of flexibility than the old sheets. Consequently some pages will permit the book to be opened and lie in a flat plane, while others would offer more or less resistance to holding the book in its open desired position. It becomes desirable, therefore, to construct a sheet which will have one portion of greater flexibility than the other-viz., the portion nearest the binding edgeso as to provide greater longevity of the sheet and permit of the pages, without any regard to the age of the same, being opened and laid in a substantially horizontal plane, and thereby facilitate the making of entries, all of which will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art. The invention therefore is intended to provide a loose ledger leaf or sheet which will remove the objections and contain the advantages above noted, as will more fully hereinafter appear.

In illustrating and describing these inlprovements I have not thought it necessary to illustrate or describe either the ledger or binding thereof, as such parts or portions are old and well known. I have therefore only illustrated and described that which I consider to be new, taken in connection with so much as is old as will properly disclose the invention to others, leaving out of consideration other and well-known mechanisms=,which if shown and described hereinvvould only tend to confusion, prolixity, and ambiguity;

ion

In constructing a loose ledger-sheet in accordance With these improvements I make a loose sheet a of the desired length, width, and thickness and which is provided at its binding edge with a plurality of key-shaped slots l), by which its insertion and removal into and out of connection with the binder are facilitated. To provide for greater flexibility of the sheet at the portion thereof adjacent to its binding edge, I provide a plurality or series of grooves, slots, or depressions c and d, arranged parallel with and adjacent to the binding edge of the sheet. An examination of Figs. l and 3 will show that these grooves or slots are discontinuous and arranged in what might be called alternate spaces on each side of the sheet-that is, one set of grooves, c, is arranged parallel with each other and with the binding edge and broken or discontinued at e and on one side of the sheet, While a second set, d, is arranged in spaces alternating between the other set and on the other side of the sheet and are discontinued at f. The reason for this construction and arrangement is that should a perforation or break start in one of the grooves it is not likely to go farther than the end of the slot or Where such slot is discontinued, and thus preserves the longevity of the sheet, while the arrangement of the slots in the alternate spaces provides for equal flexibility no matter in which direction the sheet is turned. It will thus be seen that this construction and arrangement of sheet offer many advantages to the constructors and users of this style of ledgers.

I claiml. A loose ledger-sheet 'provided with a series of grooves or depressions arranged near the binding edge and in alternate spaces on each side of the sheet, substantially as described.

2. A loose ledger-sheet provided with a series of grooves or depressions arranged parallel with the binding edge oE the sheet and in alternate spaces on each side of the sheet, substantially as described.

3. A loose ledger-sheet provided with a series ofdiscontinuous cuts or grooves arranged parallel with each other and with the binding edge of the sheet and in alternate spaces on each side, substantially as described.

WILLIAM P. NORTH'GOTT.A

lVitnesses:

THOMAS F. SHERDAN, HARRY IRWIN CRoMnr.. 

